Orphanhood, vulnerability and primary school attendance: evidence from a school-based survey in two regions of Tanzania

William Gould, University of LiverpoolUlli Huber, King's College London

The common presumption of much literature and educational planning practice that orphans are less likely to attend school than non-orphans is re-examined using survey data from two regions in Tanzania. It is argued that orphans should not be compared only with non-orphans since there are other vulnerable groups of children, all with different levels of social and spatial disadvantage. A survey in two regions of Tanzania identifying primary school attendance categories (regular attenders, irregular attenders, dropouts, never attenders) showed that both orphans and a second, potentially vulnerable group of children - children who have not lost a parent, but who live with only one or neither of their parents - are less likely than other children to attend school in urban and roadside settlements, but that there is no clear relationship between vulnerability and attendance and dropout in rural areas.

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